Claire Simpson and David Melling report from Carden Park, Cheshire, where the British Orthopaedic Trainee Association held its 2010 Annual Conference from 11-13 June
The British Orthopaedic Trainee Association (BOTA) Annual Conference continues to go from strength to strength, with a record number of trainees attending this year and a proportion taking up the offer of attending as day delegates. The venue, Carden Park, Cheshire, proved to be popular, with excellent conference facilities, golf course and an activity centre on-site.
For the first time, the Educational Programme commenced in the morning, allowing a full day of interactive lectures based around the general theme of ‘Trauma’. The quality of the lectures was extremely high and interactive voting keypads were again put to good use.
Andrew Manktelow started proceedings by introducing the delegates to the complexities of peri-prosthetic fractures of the lower limb. This was followed by Badri Narayan discussing the orthopaedic management of open tibial fractures, and Ken Graham enlightening the delegates about the management of the soft tissue element of these difficult injuries. The morning session was completed by Robert Jeffrey who, along with speaking about children’s injuries, shared his interest in gig boat racing.
The afternoon sessions consisted of Danny Brown briefing the delegates on the controversial area of management of wrist fractures and Andrew Port taking delegates through tibial plateaux fractures. Tim Briggs, Trainer of the Year 2009, shared his philosophy on the management of lesions of the proximal femur, while Martin Bircher made acetabular fractures more accessible. Peter Thomas completed proceedings, discussing how to get fractures to heal, and spoke with great enthusiasm about his development and use of the Staffordshire Orthopaedic Reduction Machine.
The meeting was well supported by industry, with sponsors’ trade stands attracting plenty of attention, and a new junior doctor poster competition was also very popular. The following morning offered workshops run by Heraeus and JRI, DePuy and Zimmer, mainly concentrating on the intricacies of hip arthroplasty. An e-learning workshop was also held to raise the profile of the project.
The educational programme was followed, as always, by the golf competition, team-building activities or an afternoon of relaxation. Once again, the Palacos Black-tie Dinner was the highlight of the weekend and the Trainer of the Year competition was won by Gordon Bannister.
At BOTA’s AGM the delegates were joined by Mike Kimmons, CEO of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA), who outlined the direction of the BOA over the year to come. He also highlighted disparities between registrar numbers and available consultant posts resulting from poor workforce planning. BOTA and the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) have worked closely over the last year, and the delegates also heard from Ed Fitzgerald, outgoing ASiT President, who discussed the WTR and the need to focus on the quality of training available within these hours.
BOTA intends to build on the successes of this year’s Conference, and looks forward to welcoming more delegates next year. Details will be available at www.bota.org.uk
Claire Simpson, BOTA Publicity Representative, and David Melling, BOTA Previous Education Representative
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